degrassifan
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Stage version based on the movieHas anyone ever seen a stage production that was enturely based on the movie? Same songs, same dialogue, etc.
If not, what do you all think of this idea? My friend and I were discussing it that's why I'm asking.
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Celeste_SM
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In principal, I'm against messing with the script that you're given. I also love the songs in SOM that aren't in the movie, and I think Lonely Goatherd works better in the bedroom than Favorite Things.
But all that said, I think a musical production of SOM based on the movie would be very successful. The movie is more well known than the stage play, and audiences like what they know. The cut songs aren't key to the story and could shorten up the show quite a bit, which it needs in this day of short attention span audiences. So, although I don't think it's the right thing to do, it certainly could be a successful thing to do.
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degrassifan
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We also think it could be successful.
We were thinking if such version was made, would it be called a revival or a re-imagining? And who would you go to for the rights, Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization or 20th Century Fox?
Of course some things cannot be possible (like the rowboat scene), but with the same dialogue as the movie, and probably the same order of songs (almost. It kinda makes sense for Do-Re-Mi to occur the moment Maria arrives. It works better on stage than film), and maybe ending Act I with Maria leaving (just like the film), rather than end it with "Climb Every Mountain" like the original stage show. Also probably incorporating the song "How Can Love Survive?" but not "No Way To Stop It" because the movie has Georg and Elsa breaking up because of his love for Maria, just like the true story.
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Celeste_SM
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It would be a revival and you'd have to go to R&H for rights. And I am doubtful you'd be successful in getting permission for such major changes. I think if you did it, you need to stick with your premise of copying the film and should not put in How Can Love Survive. JMHO.
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Yip1982
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I think this might probably be like a very good idea. I know there were some weaknesses in the original stage show, but at least the film corrected some of the more gnawing ones.
It is possible, and perhaps one can consider that the 1998 revival staging was a satisfying blend of the best of the stage play and the best of the film.
For me, I think that many of the changes made to the film make the most sense. I like it how they use My Favourite Things in the bedroom. And I also like it how Captain von Trapp and Elsa break up more subtly than they did in the stage play.
P.S. Please can someone tell me why Lonely Goatherd works better in the bedroom as compared to My Favourite Things? I've felt it sounds a little out of place.
By the way, I really like it if it were used in the Salzburg Festival scene, as defiance against the totalitarian officers stationed around the auditorium. I think that song serves the same purpose as Farmer and the Cowman, to reaffirm what's good about the main characters in the show.
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Celeste_SM
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| Yip1982 wrote: | | P.S. Please can someone tell me why Lonely Goatherd works better in the bedroom as compared to My Favourite Things? I've felt it sounds a little out of place. |
It's a cheerful, upbeat song, and the loud yodelling is meant to cover the sounds of the storm for the children.
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Yip1982
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Thank you for sharing the insights. However, will it be all right that I mentioned something about My Favourite Things?
I like it better in the thunderstorm scene, because it shows that Maria and the children can turn a bad situation into something good. If you consider that the list of songs begins with raindropos on roses, and that ties in with the thunder, lightning and rain that goes on outside the house, this song is like Maria teaching the children how to turn something negative into something positive (making the best of a bad situation). I think it's a very powerful, if intangible, thing to see during the thunderstorm scene, as compared to the loudness of "Goatherd". And I think it also works better because when the children reprise "Favourite Things" at the beginning of Act Two, they know it as a song that Maria sings to comfort herself when she is down. So, I feel like this song can reinforce this if it's sung in the bedroom scene.
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Luc
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I really wouldn't enjoy a production like that. When I see a live show, I expect to see a different(ish) version of the one that everyone has seen on the big screen. I would be greatly disappointed to know that I paid $100 for a ticket to a show that I could watch in my living room for free. Ya know what I'm saying?
BTW, I think that TLG works better on the bed (oh my), but MFT is TOTALLY out of place in the stage show... a pointless filler, really.
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Celeste_SM
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| Yip1982 wrote: | Thank you for sharing the insights. However, will it be all right that I mentioned something about My Favourite Things?
I like it better in the thunderstorm scene, because it shows that Maria and the children can turn a bad situation into something good. If you consider that the list of songs begins with raindropos on roses, and that ties in with the thunder, lightning and rain that goes on outside the house, this song is like Maria teaching the children how to turn something negative into something positive (making the best of a bad situation). I think it's a very powerful, if intangible, thing to see during the thunderstorm scene, as compared to the loudness of "Goatherd". And I think it also works better because when the children reprise "Favourite Things" at the beginning of Act Two, they know it as a song that Maria sings to comfort herself when she is down. So, I feel like this song can reinforce this if it's sung in the bedroom scene. |
I actually agree with you on all of that. For me it is actually an argument of negatives, because I think Lonely Goatherd doesn't work anywhere in the show except the bedroom, where as Favorite Things is a little more extendible to other scenes. But if you're keeping it in this hypothetical production, then I'd keep it in the bedroom scene. If not, then I'd cut it all together.
I also agree with musikal_geek to an extent. I go to shows to see shows, not to see movies. But live performance always has a little something extra for me, even if it's a movie rehash. I just think it would be more successful commercially. Every show that I've done that has a movie counterpart, audience members always remember the movie and ask about _____ (insert scene here) that is in the movie and not in the show. Most notably Wizard of Oz, Singin' in the Rain and SOM. But commercial and artistic success are not necessarily the same thing. 
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Bookworm
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I like both Favorite Things and Lonely Goatherd in the bedroom. I think they both have good parts to them that make them excellent songs for the bedroom.
For example, in My Favorite Things she is talking about things that go on outside.. she says raindrops on roses are a comforting thing, even one of her favorite things! She likes snowflakes, silver white winters..
Lonely Goatherd however is a light cheerful song that is a funny little story rhyme and the loud yodeling covers the thunder quite nicely. It's a song which will make the children laugh.
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Salome
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problem is the film cut the only two good songs in the show.
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Luc
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| Salome wrote: | | problem is the film cut the only two good songs in the show. |
AGREED.
(Well, not the part about them being the only good songs...)
But No Way to Stop It and How Can Love Survive? are fantastic songs. It totally sucks that they were cut from the movie!
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Yip1982
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I would like to mention that when I explained why I felt MFT worked better in the bedroom, it was because it struck me as making sense. In my posts on SOM, I would like to assess the changes between the stage and film versions, and many of the film improvements worked pretty well for the film. I can see the easier ones working equally well in the context of the stage show too, and I've never viewed the changes as having a commercial motive or two.
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Mark Walton
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| Yip1982 wrote: | Thank you for sharing the insights. However, will it be all right that I mentioned something about My Favourite Things?
I like it better in the thunderstorm scene, because it shows that Maria and the children can turn a bad situation into something good. If you consider that the list of songs begins with raindropos on roses, and that ties in with the thunder, lightning and rain that goes on outside the house, this song is like Maria teaching the children how to turn something negative into something positive (making the best of a bad situation). I think it's a very powerful, if intangible, thing to see during the thunderstorm scene, as compared to the loudness of "Goatherd". And I think it also works better because when the children reprise "Favourite Things" at the beginning of Act Two, they know it as a song that Maria sings to comfort herself when she is down. So, I feel like this song can reinforce this if it's sung in the bedroom scene. |
I too like the way MFT was used in the movie. Besides the song itself, the way conductor Irwin Kostal managed the orchestra's sheer power, keying it to the kids' varying degrees of exuberance, contributed mightily to its success. The kids didn't do any singing in the bedroom scene, but Irwin was obviously aware of their presence, the anxiety of the 2 youngest girls, the bravado of the boys and the older girls, and Maria's trying to comfort them, aware in the back of her mind that she was going out on a limb with their father. As she went through the song, and the kids responded, Irwin built up his power progressively, peaking just before the Captain entered the bedroom - then he shut down abruptly, "on a dime". (Imagine the driver of a French TGV train trying to stop like that from 300 km/h+!) After the Captain's exit in a huff, Irwin picked up Maria's anger at the Captain's unreasonableness, her attempt to get over it, her resourcefulness in seeing the soon-to-be-replaced drapes as material for play clothes, and her increasing optimism as she closed out the interrupted song.
Irwin used much the same power management for the MFT reprise at Maria's return from the Abbey. The kids started off singing half-heartedly, at about half the normal tempo, and without orchestral backup. Irwin at first let the orchestra almost drift along aimlessly behind the kids - until Maria's voice cut across those of the kids. At that point, sensing the kids' joy, Irwin quickly recovered full tempo, and powered up as Maria and the kids closed out the song.
I also liked the reworking "Lonely Goatherd" into a puppet show: it showed off the kids' increasing confidence, the Captain's rediscovery of his cultured nature (suppressed since the kids' mother died), and his rapprochement with the kids - something both he and they wanted, much to his surprise. Again right through LG, Irwin keyed the orchestra's power to the kids' exuberance, without overpowering them - clearly a specialty of his. (Much of Irwin's work in the 1960s and 1970s was musical films that either directly or indirectly involved kids). The only time he ever let the orchestra hit anywhere near full power was the final chorus of "Do-Re-Mi". One would have to listen very closely to the orchestra while the kids are singing, or present, to pick up on all this.
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degrassifan
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I personally think that My Favorite Things works very well in the bedroom, rather than at the Abbey between Maria and the Mother Abbess. I haven't seen it, but I know that the new London Production put The Lonely Goatherd right before the Ball, and it's a song sung by Maria and the kids. Then they used the Do-Re-Mi Reprise at the Concert. Now, I think this also works extremely well.
The film improved the stage play a great deal, but somethings that work in the movie cannot work on stage. For example, the placement of the song Do-Re-Mi. It works well in the living room on stage, but not on film I don't think. As for How Can Love Survive?, I think it would have worked in the movie, and it works well on stage. Although a good song, "No Way To Stop It" could be dropped. I've seen a production that drops it entirely. It's also better, in my opinion, that Gerog and Elsa break up because of his love for Maria, which is really what happened in real-life, than having them break-up because she supports the Nazis.
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Bookworm
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I agree with Yip 100 percent, really. I love MFT in the bedroom.
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Salome
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| degrassifan wrote: | | . It's also better, in my opinion, that Gerog and Elsa break up because of his love for Maria, which is really what happened in real-life, than having them break-up because she supports the ----. |
Elsa wasnt real she is based on a princess that baron Von Trapp was engaged to.
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degrassifan
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I know that. What I meant was that Georg broke up with Elsa because of his love for Maria, just like in real-life, when the real Georg broke up with Princess Yvonne because he had feelings for Maria. Unfortunately, the real Maria didn't feel the same way.
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Bookworm
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| degrassifan wrote: | | I know that. What I meant was that Georg broke up with Elsa because of his love for Maria, just like in real-life, when the real Georg broke up with Princess Yvonne because he had feelings for Maria. Unfortunately, the real Maria didn't feel the same way. |
I never read the book Maria wrote. Did she really not feel the same way? How did they end up with children - did she end up finally loving him?
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degrassifan
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| Bookworm wrote: |
I never read the book Maria wrote. Did she really not feel the same way? How did they end up with children - did she end up finally loving him? |
She really didn't love him...at first. She only married him because the Mother Abbess told her that it was the will of God for her to marry the Captain and be the second mother to his children, even if it meant a loveless marriage. So when they got married, it was as if she was marrying the children, for she loved them dearly, and she felt as if she were doing God's will.
In time, she did fall in love with him. You won't find this in the book "The Sound of Music" is based on, but she wrote another autobiography called "Maria, My Own Story" (I think). I read it about 2 years ago, and in it, she tells more about her childhood, her years as a postulant, and her marriage with the Captain. It does tell the moment she fell in love with him, but I've forgotten the details.
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Bookworm
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Oh, okay, thanks for clearing that up. I understand now. 
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degrassifan
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I was just thinking, if there isn't a place for The Lonely Goatherd, then could it be placed in the beginning and sung between Maria and the Mother Abbess rather than My Favorite Things? Goatherd sounds like a mountain folk song from Austria, and since both the Mother Superior and Maria grew up in the mountains, then this would be perfect.
Also, I know on stage, Maria sings Do-Re-Mi to the children when she first meets them. What I want to know is do you guys think it would work on stage for Maria and the children to sing the whole song later on in the play on a mountain top like the movie?
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Yip1982
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[quote="degrassifan"]I was just thinking, if there isn't a place for The Lonely Goatherd, then could it be placed in the beginning and sung between Maria and the Mother Abbess rather than My Favorite Things? Goatherd sounds like a mountain folk song from Austria, and since both the Mother Superior and Maria grew up in the mountains, then this would be perfect.
Also, I know on stage, Maria sings Do-Re-Mi to the children when she first meets them. What I want to know is do you guys think it would work on stage for Maria and the children to sing the whole song later on in the play on a mountain top like the movie?[/quote]
While this idea could be plausible, I doubt it could be effective. Lonely Goatherd would probably be a little too flighty and vivacious for the Mother Abbess's office. However, I especially like the 1998 Broadway revival that placed this song in the Salzburg Festival sequence, so that Maria, the Captain and the children could extol the good that still remained in Austria. I think this song parallels with the hoe-down scene at the Box Social in the second act of Oklahoma. I think that if this song were to be placed in the Salzburg Festival scene it would probably perform the same function as The Farmer and the Cowman.
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NoWayToStopIt
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the school production I was in exactly mirrored the revival version...which blended aspects of the movie and the stage.. personally I found it more effective. After the show ended I read up on the original stage version (I had only been familiar with the movie before being in the show) and much preferred the way we did it. (Although I would have loved to have done the extra singing lines for Sr. Margaretta that I read in the score!!)
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degrassifan
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So how did you guys do it? What was your production like?
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Luc
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So...
A musical
based on a movie
based on a musical
based on a play
based on a novel
based on a true story
Sounds dumb.
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NoWayToStopIt
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well basically we cut the Maria-Mother Abbess version of My Favorite Things, added I Have Confidence, cut An Ordinary Couple and replaced it with Something Good, and moved Lonely Goatherd to the Nazi Concert. Everything else I believe stayed the same.
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John
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The True StoryThe National Archives website has a copy of Maria von Trapp's Declaration of Intention, filed in 1944, and her Petition for Naturalization, filed in 1948. In both documents, which were signed under oath, she states that she was married to the captain on November 26, 1927, and that their first child, Rosemarie, was born on February 8, 1928, which is only 2 months, 13 days, later. Thus, she was about 7 months pregnant when she married the captain.
If "Princess Yvonne" existed, I suspect it was she, not the captain, who broke off any engagement. Also, since Maria was pregnant and unmarried, the advice from Reverend Mother that it was "the Will of God" for her to get married certainly has a different meaning than the one attempted to be conveyed in the movie.
Maria has told various inconsistent stories. In the December 19, 1938, issue of TIME magazine, there is an article which states that she is the mother of all the children. In her 1949 book, she describes the whistle scene when she first met the captain and the children. In her 1972 book, however, she admits that the captain was not home when she first arrived, and that she was introduced to the children by the housekeeper.
The musical and the movie tell a great story, but there is little truth in it.
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Salome
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| NoWayToStopIt wrote: | | well basically we cut the Maria-Mother Abbess version of My Favorite Things, added I Have Confidence, cut An Ordinary Couple and replaced it with Something Good, and moved Lonely Goatherd to the Nazi Concert. Everything else I believe stayed the same. |
that sounds more like the broadway revival...not the movie.
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Monsieur D'Arque
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Yes, they had already said that their production mirrored the Broadway revival.
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